Operation Columbus

(US - First On The Moon)
(NL - Wedloop naar de Maan)
(PT - Meta-Lua)

Publishing details:

UK: Faber, 1959, in print until about 1971, h/b.
US: Criterion Books, 1960, h/b.
US: Tempo Books, 1969, p/b.
NL: Prisma Juniores 238, 1963.
PT: Galeria Panorama, p/b.

Synopsis:

The race is on to place a man on the moon to examine the wreckage of the alien domes destroyed in 'The Domes of Pico'. The Russians are training a fanatical young Communist, Serge Smyslov, for the task, while the West's candidate is a cheery young American, Morrison 'Morrey' Kant. Unfortunately Morrey breaks his arm shortly before take-off in a riding accident and Chris Godfrey takes his place.

The two spaceships land on the moon virtually simultaneously. Chris can walk about in his spacesuit, however Serge is sealed up inside a 'lunar rover' vehicle. While Chris ventures towards the radioactive debris of the domes to retrieve a sample, Serge, brainwashed by his Red superiors, uses a rocket to destroy Chris's ship. The blast overturns his lunar rover, leaving him unable to return to his ship, while Chris is trapped by a strange, creeping grey mist that may be connected to the domes' builders.......

Commentary:

Quite a bleak novel in many ways, powerfully evoking the isolation of the lunar surface and the claustrophobia of the rockets and space suits. The battle between the astronaut and cosmonaut marooned on the moon is mirrored by increased tension between the superpowers on Earth. Chris and Serge even begin fighting during the journey home!

Reviews:

OPERATION COLUMBUS by Hugh Walters Faber and Faber 13s 6d HERE is the third book by Hugh Walters, a pen name which hides the identity of Bro. Walter Hughes, a member of the Executive Council. Like the two previous books, the subject matter is bang up to date dealing as it does with rockets and space travel, and the author is remarkably well informed technically. If there are any technical defects it is difficult to detect them, and one can almost imagine that Hugh Walters has already made the space trips described. The story deals with a journey to the Moon by Chris Godfrey, and after a rather slow start the tale moves along with increasing tempo to a crescendo of excitement. Of course the Russians have their own ideas about moon travel and it is unfor- tunate for the hero that almost to the hour the Soviet send off a rival rocket containing Serge Smyslov. Chris and Serge both arrive on the moon quite safely but it would spoil the effect for readers if we related what happened. Suffice to say that after some thrilling adventures the two space travellers forget their antagonism and by their combined efforts manage to return to earth. The story ends with the two cosily wrapped up in a Russian hospital. As we have said the book is remarkable for its seeming accuracy, and we understand that a fourth book has just been completed, with a fifth on the way by the same author. As the author is also a member of the Study Group is augers well for the future policy of the Order; it could very well do with some of the advanced thinking so graphically displayed in Operation Columbus Foresters' Miscellany, c.1960

FOR THE CHILDREN 'Operation Columbus,' by Hugh Walters (Faber, 13s. 6d.), is a grand adventure yarn set in the future. After the radiation bombardment from mysterious structures on the moon - chronicled in the same author's 'The Domes of Pico' - it is inevitable that a lunar landing has to be made, and Christ Godfrey expects to be chosen for the job. But things do not work quite as he had planned. There is an American candidate for the honour of piloting the first Western rocket to the Moon; and the Russians have their own schemes for turning it into a Soviet satellite. Christ gets there in the end, but Serge Smyslov gets there too, and there are some tense goings-on on the Moon itself which build up to a terrific climax. Yarmouth Mercury, 4th March, 1960 Please note their substitution of "Christ" for "Chris"!

'. . . informative and exciting. Recommended.' - Library Journal

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